How They Rope You In (Author Scammers) ~ First Look Studios, Creative Trailer House

I'm truly not a dope. I'm up on all the phone scams ~ a caller spoofing my bank's name and phone number or the "IRS" needing to verify my Social Security number ~ things like that. When I receive an email that looks a bit off, I hover my mouse over the sender's address, and if it shows, for instance, amazon@gmail.com, I delete it unread. 

But scammers have gotten very, very sophisticated. They put a lot of effort into their scams. Kudos, I guess. 

PRO TIP FOR AUTHORS: Utilize Writer Beware!  I'd heard of the site, but had no reason to use it, because I'd never before been scammed or even had a scam attempt that I didn't immediately identify as one. 

I have an email address that I established under my pen name and used to sign up for a few sites; LinkedIn, Reddit, Substack. I check it daily, mostly because I enjoy getting a digest of the latest Reddit posts. I also received the following email last week:

Naturally, I was suspicious. I was all set to delete it, but just for kicks, I did a Google search for Hope Watson. The results:

 

This is not to pick on Hope Watson. It's not her fault she's being impersonated, but how I was I to know that was the case? And I did check her out to find out if she was a real person. Of course, I found her reach-out unusual, but since she was real, what harm was there in responding? I gave her my phone number as requested and indicated I would be available to talk the following Tuesday. Receiving no response, I kicked myself for suggesting a date so far in the future. (I even blogged here about that.) 

But sure enough, the following Tuesday, "Hope" responded:

 

What a relief! I hadn't blown it after all! I nervously waited all that day for the call. I was aware of the time difference between my region and "California" (it wasn't California), and yes, it was late in the day before "Timothy Michaels" called. I detected a slight Asian accent, which was incongruous with his name, but he certainly spoke as a US native, so, okay.

"Timothy" rattled off all the perks his company was offering. The details were mind-boggling. He even mentioned that they would like me to be present at the December presentation to the investors ~ all travel and hotel expenses paid. A "cinematic trailer" was mentioned casually, and he certainly didn't dwell on it before continuing his spiel. When I reviewed my notes later, I knew I'd need to follow up with him regarding this provision.

He then sent me a summary email:

 

(He didn't list them in his email, but in our phone call he told me the studios involved were Lion's Gate, Amazon, and Disney.)

The cinematic trailer was a problem. Since he made no offer to pay for that, it was clear that the expense would fall to me. STILL, I didn't smell a rat. I had no idea how these things work. How could I? I rationalized that it would be a small investment compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars coming my way. I mulled over how much I would be willing to pay for one. I don't have much money to spare, but if the cost was reasonable...

I will note one other thing: Lies and Love is okay, but it's nothing special. It's a nice little story, but rather thin (as a novella) for turning into a film. I'm nothing if not brutally honest about my work, and I was flabbergasted that Hope Watson saw something in that book that I didn't see. But maybe I was simply judging my work too harshly.

And yes, I sent a PDF of the book as he requested. THE ONE THING I did right was to apply for a copyright for it. (I'm thinking I might need to copyright all my works, which I always viewed as an unnecessary expense, considering that no one would bother stealing them.) But I don't think the book matters at all to his "company". The request was only made to make the offer look more legitimate.

Back to the trailer. I don't know any production companies (again, why would I?), so I followed up with Timothy for recommendations. He told me he'd send me two or three. HE SENT ME ONE. Also note that in his summary email, he emphasized that there was a time deadline. (So give Creative Trailer House your money fast! You don't want to miss out!)

That was disappointing. I have some experience creating videos and I have a good eye for quality (and for crap). I was hoping to have a few service providers to choose from. Nevertheless, I did a YouTube search for Creative Trailer House and took a look at some of their trailers. If you can stomach really awful product, pull up some of them for yourself.

After viewing them, I did a Google search for the company, which is where I found a Reddit post:

Three thousand dollars?? For a crappy homemade video?

To be honest, it was viewing the trailers that convinced me the whole thing was a scam. The Reddit post only confirmed it for me.

Here is what Victoria Strauss from Writer Beware had to say:

It hurts my pride to admit it, but like every other mark, I wanted to believe it was true. Think what my family could do with $800,000! We'd no longer have to worry that we'd spent too much at the supermarket, we could replace our worn-out furniture and old tech, pay off our bills. Not to mention, having a movie made from my book would prove that I wasn't a failure. It would be validation. 

While I was so excited (and dazed) after talking to Timothy that first day that I could barely sleep, in the back of my mind a nagging suspicion lingered. I told myself that when I awoke the next morning I would do my due diligence to PROVE that it was real. I would Google the hell out of every name and entity. 

Once I was finally convinced it was a scam, I was relieved. Why? I should have been depressed and humiliated, right? (Okay, I was humiliated.) The reason for my relief was that while I yearned to prove to myself it was real, deep down I knew it wasn't. I almost withdrew money from my retirement account to pay for that shitty trailer. But I didn't. Relief.

Humans can be easily led ~ if they want to be. That's the key. You have to want it so badly that you cast all reason to the wind. I couldn't even get a literary agent's attention when I tried, but now they were coming to me? A film studio was willing to pay me an obscene amount of money, but they drew the line at paying for a two-minute book trailer?

According to Writer Beware, a lot of authors paid money to these scammers, often more than the $3,000 Creative Trailer House was asking. Reading their comments was infuriating. Why wouldn't they fall for it? I did. I almost paid them money. I was all set to do it. I truly believe that God saved me from making a disastrous mistake.

It turns out most of these fake agencies are based in the Philippines (hence the accent I detected), and they're almost impossible to sue.

I wish I could write this post as a brag, a testament to my savvy. Instead, it's a confession. But if it saves someone else from falling for it, I'll feel somewhat redeemed.